The Lotus Of East Palace
Chapter 17 (Elias)

He wasn't in his study at the Main Palace. He's not in the mansion where Elle and my parents are hiding. He's not at Schiereiland Palace. He's not anywhere.

"Damn it, Xavier! Where are you?" I screamed throughout the room. I looked for him in his tightly locked room. The room is empty. There was no sign of her existence at all.

After escorting Yeon-Hwa to Shina safely, I started looking for Xavier to various places. First, I went to his room, because Yan said he didn't come out of his room. I should have known that it was because he wasn't there. So I looked for him in various places. Every time I get tired of looking for it, I went back to meet Yeon-Hwa at the Sun Palace on the grounds that I would pass information from her to Riz and the Twin Dragons—I have not told Yeon-Hwa that Riz and Diana in Dong-gung are not Arizona Navarro and the real Diana Vinogradoff. Then I went to find Xavier again. But he's not anywhere. Finally I went back to his room, looking for signs of where he was going.

"I can only hear the sound from the direction of this room. The Wolf has returned."

I immediately looked to the source of the voice. There's someone else in the King's room. It was that person who was currently replacing Xavier as King.

"Ludwig..."

"He's not here." Said. The sneaky smile that made her become similar to Selena was painted on her face. "I thought you were told."

"Where is he?"

"Why ask me? You know myself my brother and I are not familiar. He's closer to you than to me."

I drew my sword to his neck. Ludwig budging. But it doesn't seem scared at all. "A. Where is. She's."

"Try me if you can. Winterthur's wolf can't fight his king." His challenge.

"You are not my king."

"Almost. If he doesn't come back, then I'll be King. If he dies..." His grin made me realize one thing; Ludwig already knew about Xavier's condition. "After he dies, I will become King. So be nice to me."

Just as I swung my sword to slash it, Ludwig had already teleported to another corner of this room. I almost forgot she was a witch too.

"Originally you know, we talked." He said calmly, but his expression was hard to read. Is that an expression of regret? Saddened? I can't guess what he's planning. So I don't know if what he's saying is the truth or not. I forgot she's Xavier's sister. He also has a talent for pretending and lying. Ludwig continued, "We made a deal. And I've got permission from him to replace her for a while. So don't be too fierce on me, Wolf."

"What deal?"

"Ask him yourself. When you were unconscious? You've been with him all this time. Ah... I forgot that my brother was the best at performing. So you must not have realized he was undercover. She and her lover, the Princess of Schiereiland, are in the Orient."

Damnit.

Goddamnit!

I immediately teleported to Dong-gung. Her dizziness was incredible and it felt like my entire stomach was forced out. I haven't stopped teleporting in the last week, moving to four countries just to look for it. I drained my energy in vain. He's been with me all along.

"Shuu!" I called out to the Water Dragon. He was having lunch with Kaze and a young man I didn't know who seemed to be from Schiereiland. "Where is he?" I asked directly without further ado. He's a Water Dragon. He can read minds. He knows who I mean.

"Welcome, Sir. Have you had lunch?" Ask the young man I don't know. His typical southerner's logat confirmed that he was indeed from Schiereiland.

I immediately raised my hand, gesturing for her to shut up. I can't talk right now. I turned back to Shuu who was still eating quietly. "Where is your King, the Water Dragon?"

Kaze's pupils widened as I asked her. "You already know? Since when?"

"When did you know, but not tell me? Am I the only one who doesn't know?"

"Yeon-Hwa doesn't know either." Shuu replied after swallowing his food. He then drank the water in a slow motion that made me even more impatient. It seems he slowed me down intentionally.

"I didn't know at first either. I just found out yesterday." Kaze said, now he is getting smoother using my language, even though he cannot get rid of his accent. "Only Shuu knew from the beginning."

"Where is he?"

Not Shuu, the young Schiereiland replied to me, "If you mean King Xavier, he's in the basement. But you look pale Sir, you'd better eat first. I will prepare—“

Without waiting for him to finish his sentence, I immediately teleported to the cellar of the wine cellar. And there they were, without using the disguise—which I believed to be a high-level transformation magic, with their own faces, making out in the basement couch.

"God! Can't you do it in the room!"

Suddenly a fire broke out in front of me. Around me. Like ready to scorch me. But of course it didn't happen. The moment the fire disappeared from before me, they were already sitting in a formal manner as usual as if they were sitting on their thrones.

"So you can now remove your own fire? That's good." I said as I watched the two of them take turns. I feel sorry for interrupting.

"That wasn't my fire. That was Anna. By the way, can't you knock first and enter through the door like any normal person?" Ask Xavier. It was his first greeting after a long time I had not seen him and after I had searched all over the world for the past week.

"Pardon the irreverence of the servant, Your Majesty." I bowed respectfully. As I looked down, I observed their fingers interlocked. Xavier's ruby ring is now on Princess Anastasia's ring finger. They're already married. That understanding hit me. At the night of the festival of a thousand stars... It wasn't Riz proposing to Diana. Because it's not them. It was Xavier who proposed to Princess Anastasia. And they got married that night. And that night... "Oh... Congratulations on your marriage. Sorry I was late in saying it. If only I had been told earlier I would have prepared a festive wedding present."

"So you disappeared for a week just to find out?" Ask Xavier.

I took a deep breath, holding back my emotions from exploding in frustration. He made me panic and look for him everywhere, now he casually asks like that. "I disappeared for a week in search of you, Your Majesty. Because I thought..." My words stopped for a moment. I thought you might die. I thought the poison was spreading and you couldn't survive. I thought you were really abandoned by the woman who is now your wife. But I didn't say it. Princess Anastasia seemed to be waiting for me to continue my sentence. I glanced at Xavier for a moment. He shakes briefly. He hasn't told the Princess yet. I still had to keep it a secret, so I continued, "I thought something happened to you."

"Thank you for worrying about me, Elias. But as you can see, I'm fine. I'm very healthy."

You liar!

"One by one, Elias."

"Can't! You answer all of that right now!" I took a deep breath and breathed it out. The effects of that distant teleportation still left me out of breath like I was running long distances. "alright... Answer this first. Since when?"

It wasn't Xavier, but Princess Anastasia was the one who answered my question calmly. "From the beginning." Said. Makes me re-remember our initial meeting in Dong-gung. How could I not recognize them? The Princess continued, "From the beginning you never met the real Riz and Diana. They could not leave their children in Schiereiland. Their children are too young to be on this dangerous mission. So it was Xavier and I who came here, as well as protecting the Twin Dragons. From the beginning, it was us."

"Then who was at Schiereiland Palace and engaged to Prince Ludwig, His Majesty?" Ask again. Now that the Princess is married to Xavier I am confused about her title. Whether she remains Princess Schiereiland, or is already Queen of Nordhalbinsel. What is Elle now? I'll ask you about this later.

"Constant." Answer The Princess. "Grand Duchess Smirnoff, I mean. Ludwig used his magic to turn Constanza into me. You could say we're working together."

"I pretended to be sick and did not come out of the room for the nobles to take Ludwig to the Palace and replace me temporarily." Xavier continued his explanation. Right now I really want to expose her secret in front of the Princess that she is not pretending but is sick. Not just sick, he's dying. But seeing them together like this, I don't have the heart. I'll give Xavier a chance to tell the Princess straight away about her true condition. "We made a deal. So you don't have to worry. Ludwig ruled with my permission."

"Why didn't you tell me in the first place?"

"Why didn't you tell me about Princess Seo-Hwa's only daughter in the first place?" Xavier. He seems to be judging me. I know sooner or later he'll talk about this.

As I was brain-winding looking for a fitting reason to answer Xavier's question, Princess Anastasia beside him nudged gently on his shoulder and whispered in a voice that I could still hear—he must have been on purpose, "Don't be so. He was being protective of his soul mate even without him noticing. I think it's some kind of instinctive nature of the wolf."

"What?" How could he know?

"Shuu told us. Water Dragons can not only read minds. He can see the bondage of your soul." Xavier. "But it still does not justify your actions. You're hiding information that might be of benefit to the kingdom."

"We're all hiding something, Xavier." My reply.

Xavier and I stayed and stared at each other. I'll wait for him to talk about the poison. But he didn't say it either. Princess Anastasia observed us in turn.

"Is there anything I don't know about the meaning of your gaze?" Ask The Princess.

When I found out Xavier wasn't going to tell him now, I immediately switched the topic, "So everything is safe under control?"

"Not really." Answer Xavier directly. His answer made me who had almost breathed a sigh of relief now back tense and alert.

"Yeon-Hwa is in the Sun Palace. I was really worried about him, but I couldn't go there to watch him, nor did the Twin Dragons." Princess Anastasia said.

"And Yi-Zhuo already knew that we were in the Orient. He must have told Qin about us, it was only a matter of time until Qin found out about this place. If you don't know, Yi-Zhuo is the daughter of Commander Xing and a dragon tracker." Xavier added. "I also need someone to keep an eye on Ludwig. I overheard a conversation of some customers coming to the tavern that Ludwig was planning to come to the Sun Palace."

"So that means it's my next assignment. Right, right?" I glanced at Xavier who immediately nodded.

"Jaga Yeon-Hwa, and pass on the information from her to us. Yeon-Hwa may be able to figure out what purpose Ludwig came to the Orient for. Yi-zhuo. There's no need to kill him, just make sure he can't mess with Kaze and Shuu." The King's Word.

I bowed respectfully to him, "Okay, Your Majesty."

As I was about to prepare to teleport out, I remembered the message from Elle that I should have been sending Xavier since a week ago. But I don't know if it's wise to tell her now in the presence of Princess Anastasia, especially now that they're married. Didn't Xavier procrastinate proposing to the Princess because he was still waiting for Leon to wake up? Shouldn't I tell him? But sooner or later, Princess Anastasia will find out about this. Neither from me nor from the Water Dragon who read my mind or just anyone else.

"Some thing you want to say again." Xavier. It wasn't a question because he knew I had something else to say. He just doesn't know what it is.

"Leon is conscious." I said directly.

They both looked equally surprised. Xavier then observed a change in expression on his wife's face. From being surprised, then happy, then I don't know if I can read the meaning of that expression.

"You want us to go now and see him?" Xavier asked the Princess. He seemed much calmer than I thought. I'm not sure in his heart he's that calm. She knows Princess Anastasia once loved Leon very much. Probably still. Seeing his wife still speechless, Xavier continued, "Elias can—“

"can't. I'mtired. I just finished teleporting from Nordhalbinsel here. I can't do it now. Teleportation that far was draining. Don't tell me." I cut Xavier's words. Partly because I was tired. Partly because I wanted the Princess not to go see Leon. I was worried about what might happen if Xavier let him see Leon. But Xavier threw a sharp glare at me. He really wanted me to escort the Princess to meet with Leon. "You can fly! You're just." My next.

I saw Princess Anastasia tighten her grip on Xavier. He smiled at her. "Why are you asking me that? Shouldn't I be the one asking you? I'm of course glad to know Leon's sober. But you might want to see your brother."

The sister? Wh who? Xavier's the eldest. So who does he mean?

"You haven't seen him in a long time." Xavier said then while grabbing the Princess' red hair and draping it behind the ears, completely ignoring the puzzled expression on my face. He must have forgotten I was still here. His eyes did not move from the Princess.

"You too. We haven't seen him in a long time. We miss her. We want to go there soon to see him." Princess Anastasia said. "You forgot to use the word 'we', so I reminded you. Now it's no longer 'you' or 'me', now it's just 'us'. But we have unfinished business here. It's different if you really want us to go back to Nordhalbinsel and see Leon."

"What about you? What do you want?"

Without hesitation, Princess Anastasia replied, "I want to be with you. All I want is to be with you," Then in a quieter, choked up voice, as if holding back tears, as if she understood the meaning of the word to them, The Princess added, "forever."

Xavier. Eyes glazed. Me either.

God fucking. I feel so lonely when I have to watch them like this.

Princess Anastasia poked her arm at Xavier and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him, but then she stopped when she realized I was still here, waiting for her next order. He glanced at me, "You may go, Elias." he ordered.

I also obey him. It seems like she has officially become the Queen of Nordhalbinsel, as I automatically obeyed her orders.

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